


Kept from the Stars

by Kivea



Category: South Park
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Bounty Hunter Kyle, M/M, Marine Craig, Mass Effect AU, Mass Effect Inspired, Rebellion, Robo-Bebe, Science Fiction, South Park: Phone Destroyer AU, but still a oneshot, excerpt of story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-17
Updated: 2019-05-17
Packaged: 2020-03-06 23:50:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18861454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kivea/pseuds/Kivea
Summary: The loyalty that Commander Tucker gained from his crew always fascinated Kyle, even if he was in that group. It went above and beyond in a way he did. He doesn't even question his decision to disobey his father's order to keep the Commander grounded. He simply grabs Commander Tucker's hand and rebels.(Inspired by Mass Effect, but Phone Destroyer AU)





	Kept from the Stars

**Author's Note:**

> Day 6: Rebellion! 
> 
> I've been wanting to write a Mass Effect style sci-fi AU ever since I saw bernnegi's art for a Cryle AU on tumblr. I tried to keep their roles to their sci-fi cards from the Phone Destroyer game.

“With all due respect,  _ Councillor _ , I’m not prepared to sit around and wait for these  monsters  to come kill us all!” 

“You don’t have a choice!” Gerald spun round with some  force ;  brows pulled together as he encroached into the Commander’s space. “Just because you’ve stolen my son from me doesn’t mean I’m going to allow you to walk all over this Council.” 

“Or is it  _ because  _ your son joined me that you won’t let me do my job?”

It was in moments like these that Kyle really understood what it was people saw in Commander Tucker. Despite the anger in his voice and the ruffle to his feathers, the Commander was ever the stoic, put together man. He remembered a younger, wilder boy who was always incapable of doing what he was told and never seemed to care about much at all. There were some things that didn’t change. 

Yet  hiding  on the pavilion  to the Citadel Station , eyes flickering between his Commander and his father, he seemed like a much different man than he did a boy. 

“You are  _ grounded _ , Commander,” Gerald growled as he stepped close to the now taller man. “The admiral may allow you to run riot, but I will not. You’re not going to show us up to be fools to the other races. Stand down.” 

The Commander said nothing as Councillor Broflovski turned and headed back towards the auditorium. Kyle stood on the side lines as it all unfolded, wishing there was something he could do. But how could he when he was eavesdropping, hiding from the confrontation happening in front of him. 

He looked across to Token who was hiding with him, his face contorted as his eyes were trained on their Commander. Feeling Kyle looking at him the dark skinned male turned with the words: “What are we going to do?” 

“I don’t know,” Kyle admitted. “But I don’t think Tucker’s going to take it lying down.” 

“I don’t think I want to either.” 

He let out a rough sigh, pushing off the wall and watching as the Commander stormed through the district, artificial lights really bringing out the fury in his features. “Come on, we best get back to the ship. I have a feeling he’ll have a few things to say to the crew.” 

The docking bay wasn’t far, though they took their time so the Commander might get there first and collect his thoughts before he had to address the crew. They passed Bebe on their way, the woman rushing to catch up to them with a glint in her human eye, the crosshairs of her robotic one focusing in on them. 

“I saw the Commander just storm past,” she whispered. “What’s happened?” 

“He had a disagreement with Councillor Broflovski,” Kyle explained, as though the Councillor was of no relation to him. “We’ve been grounded.” 

“Grounded?!” a flicker of light sparked out from her fingers. “I’m not having some fat-cat ground  _ me _ !” 

“Let’s just hurry!” 

They didn’t speak much more as they got closer, taking the tram down to the docking bay. They rushed through the corridors, seeing their Commander on the other side of the lock scowling at an Enforcer with enough fury he might set him alight.  Kyle picked up his pace, going at a light jog through the scanner to get to his Commander. 

The sound of negative beeping behind him caused him to stop. 

He turned to see Bebe and Token held at the barriers, talking to a rather awkward Enforcer. Token met his eyes for a moment and gestured for him to continue. Kyle didn’t question him. Token probably had it in hand. 

Instead he went to his Commander’s side with a strained smile, feigning ignorance as he slid himself into the conversation. His presence seemed to get Commander Tucker to force himself to remain calm, at least. 

“Is there a problem, Officer?” 

“Yeah, there’s a problem,” Commander Tucker cut in before the Enforcer could get a word out. “This asshole isn’t letting me back onto my own ship!” 

Kyle spun round with wide eyes. “What?” 

“It’s been requested that Commander Tucker remains within the station while emergency repairs are carried out on the ship, as there’s important work that needs completing with Admiral McCormick.” 

Token and Bebe caught up to them, coming to a slow stop with concerned faces. The blonde was the first to speak. “Are we going on the ship or what?” 

“So why is it safe for my crew to board but not me?” 

The Enforcer shifted under the weight of their gaze. “Look, Commander, I don’t want to make a scene here. These are the instructions we were given, if you want to take them up with someone you’ll need to speak to the Councillor.” 

“He works fast that he’s already reported down to you to keep me locked up in this glorified prison!” 

“None of your crew will be allowed to depart during this time. Those are our orders. I’m sorry, Commander.” 

“What about me?” 

They all turned to Kyle, the Enforcer looking a little taken aback by the question. 

“I didn’t set off your alarms. Am I listed as someone who has to be kept here, or am I allowed to leave?” 

He looked down at his datapad, scrolling through the list of names with a furrow in his brow. The Enforcer who had dealt with Bebe and Token spoke up from behind them. 

“Yes, you are. Due to the nature of your usual work, it felt detrimental to keep you here. You won’t be able to leave via the  Willzyx , of course, but you won’t be stopped from working either.” 

He could  _ hear  _ the low growl of anger in the back of Commander Tucker’s throat. 

“Very well. Thank you, Officer. We’ll be on our way.” 

“No we won’t, I’m not finished-!” 

“Yes you are, Commander. Bebe, Token, we’ll meet you later.” 

The man did protest as Kyle grabbed his arm and swung them back round away from the docking bay and towards the trams. As soon as they were out the sight of the Enforcers he dropped the Commander’s arm and trusted the dark haired man to follow him into one of the trams to the upper level. 

“What are you playing at, Broflovski.” 

“I saw you fight with the Councillor.” 

A flash of anger that was quickly smothered. “Then I guess you know why we’re not allowed to leave.” 

“I do. I’m sorry.” 

The man let out a low sigh, walking to the edge of the tram they’d chosen and looking out the window to the city-scape of the large station below. “It’s fine. I fucked up. I never know how to talk to Broflovski, he’s such a-!” 

A flush of embarrassment. Grey eyes that flickered from Kyle back to the window. 

“Sorry. He’s your dad, I shouldn’t be-!” 

“It’s fine. He is an asshole. I’m not arguing with that.” 

A snort of dry amusement. “You don’t happen to have any bright ideas, do you?” 

“Actually…” 

He looked up with a bit of hope. 

“I do have one. If you’re willing to break the rules a little bit.” 

“No offense, but Councillor  _ fucking  _ Broflovski is crazy if he thinks he can stop me from going after these creatures.” 

“I thought you might say that. Get ready to get in a lot of trouble.” 

\--

He glanced behind him to the man covered head to toe in a non-descript uniform, suited up and ready to go into space, helmet in place. It was the only way he could think of disguising a man  who se  face had been plastered across the news shows a few days prior. They were going down, to the bottom of the Citadel, where the movies showed the  _ seedy underbelly  _ like some clichéd trope. 

They weren’t totally wrong. It was where you went if you needed something a little less legal than the Enforcers could do. 

“Hey, Firkle. Nice day, isn’t it?” 

“If you’re talking about the artificial sunlight? Sure, it’s  _ super  _ nice.” 

Kyle rolled his eyes at the kid’s usual snarky attitude and continued down the darker halls. He past a couple of others from Firkle’s crew, giving brief waves as he made his way to a hatch. 

“It should be break time for the Enforcers,” Kyle explained as he began to climb the ladder that went up through a dark tunnel to the hatch above. “ So ,  the ones that are about to start won’t know we haven’t come through the right way.” 

“Wait, what? We’re passing the Enforcers?” 

“It’s impossible to get to the docking bay without passing them. You just have to be prepared if you m eet them .” 

“That why I’m dressed head to toe in this gear?” 

“Yeah. I’m  gonna  talk to them, go straight to the Normandy. As soon as you’re on board, leave. I’ll meet you at  The Basement on  Vold, okay?” 

“How are you getting to Vold?” 

Kyle reached the hatch and began to unlock it, pleased that he was familiar with it. It was a pain in the ass. “Worry about getting the  Willzyx out without them locking the doors on you before you worry about how I’ll get out.” 

The light from the docking bay hit him, head poking out and doing a quick sweep to make sure he had the break patterns correct. When he didn’t see anyone immediately he climbed out, holding the hatch open for the Commander to follow. He was quick to help pull the man out faster when he heard footsteps approach. 

Commander Tucker stood, facing the wall as Kyle slammed the hatch down. Two people turned the corner, chattering amongst themselves as they made their way to one of the smaller ships. He let out a breath of air. 

“Let’s go.” 

The Enforcers by the entrance to the docking bay were talking to someone already, paying them no mind as they wandered round towards their ship. Kyle branched off, doing his best not to look behind him to make sure the incognito man was doing what he was told. He just had to trust him. 

He smiled as he approached the Enforcers, waiting for them to finish their conversation. 

“Hi, I was hoping you could help. I came through not long ago, and I think I’ve left my bag in the bay on my way to the ship – too much time spent chatting. You haven’t had anything handed in, have you?” 

“Let me just check with the office, they might’ve put it in there,” the Enforcer who spoke raised a finger to his ear to radio through to the ‘office’. “Hey, anyone handed in a bag – what did it look like?” 

“Green, duffle. Had just general stuff, I’ve been given a temporary reassignment kinda deal.” 

“Right, right. It’ a green duffle.” 

Kyle heard the familiar sound of a ship taking off, along with the harsh metallic screech of the stabilizers keeping it in  its  bay being forced to let go. They had got out. It was just a matter of time before the alarms sounded within the office. 

“Sorry, nothing’s been handed in – hang on, what was that?” 

He gave a quick wave and ‘thanks anyway’ as the guy was distracted by the message coming over the radio again. He made his way down to where he knew the N evermore  was as the Enforcers started to scramble and run towards where the Normandy had been. 

He saw the ship heading to the exit with some speed. Pete was at the N evermore  when he arrived with a tight smile that put the smaller male on guard instantly. 

“Hey, mind if I hitch a ride?” 

“Commander Douchebag left you behind so he could go save the universe or whatever?” 

“Something like that.” 

Pete looked like he wanted to say no, but they knew he paid well for favours. Within five minutes he was on the N evermore . 

It took the remainder of the day for them to be allowed to leave. None of the crew asked him what was happening; they didn’t speak to him much at all other than to tell him to stay out the way. They simply waited for the chaos of the  Willzyx leaving to die down before they were allowed to leave themselves. When they took off his communicator started beeping. It was his dad. 

He answered. 

_ “If you helped that glorified soldier leave, you committed a crime, Kyle. He was grounded.”  _

His father’s voice always sent shivers down his spine. “I know.” 

_ “I want you to come and see me.”  _

“I can’t, dad. I’m on my way to a job. I wasn’t grounded.” 

A scoff of disapproval.  _ “I was doing you a favour by not grounding you. I was letting you continue working,  _ _ g _ _ iving _ _  you a chance to do what you want, not follow that man blindly.”  _

“Why won’t you believe him?” Kyle felt his temper beginning to flare. “I know what we saw, dad. The monsters are real. You can’t ignore it!” 

_ “It’s more complicated than that, Kyle. We can’t simply allow people going  _ _ a _ _ round _ _  spreading mass panic over a threat we don’t know the scale of. It requires a more delicate approach.”  _

“I need you to trust me.” 

_ “You clearly don’t trust me, else you wouldn’t have disobeyed the law so blatantly.”  _

“You’re right. I don’t.” 

He hung up without another word. He looked up to see Firkle’s cold gaze watching him and quickly turned away to compose himself. It was the right thing to do, no matter how much it hurt to turn away his father like that. 

“So the rumours are true? There really are some Lovecraftian horrors coming to kill us?” 

Kyle frowned and turned to the kid. “Lovecraftian?” 

The wrong thing to ask. Firkle scoffed at his lack of knowledge and pushed himself off the wall, dragging his feet out the room and towards the cockpit. He was thankful for the chance to be on his own, if nothing else. 

They arrived a Vold in no rush. They had somewhere to be first, stopping off for a few hours at a station out in the middle of nowhere, and Kyle had a feeling they were taking their sweet time about it just to get on his nerves. Then again, that might’ve been too deep for them. 

He wasn’t surprised to find Butters Stotch in the doorway to the docking bay, the usual friendly smile on his face. The man was the perfect body guard, if not for the sunny disposition. Imposing and muscled. He led him through the bay and towards where Eric Cartman usually ran his operations from. 

He was accosted as soon as he arrived. 

“Give me a few minutes with him, will you, Butters?” 

“Oh, I dunno about that, Mr Tucker. Mr Cartman was pretty clear that he wanted to see Kyle here as soon as he arrived! Somethin’ about owing him a favour?” 

“If Cartman wants to see any of my crew, it’ll be with me escorting them to him. So, I’ll escort him to Cartman, as soon as I’ve spoken to him.” 

Butters floundered for a moment before giving a helpless shrug.  As if he couldn’t argue. As if he couldn’t break the Commander over his knee if he wanted.  “Well, alrighty then, Mr Tucker! See ya later, Kyle!” 

He gave a weak wave before turning to his Commander. The look on the man’s face took him by surprised. 

There was a warm, genuine smile, as Commander Tucker clapped him on the shoulder. “I’m glad to see you. I was beginning to get worried.” 

“What about?” 

“You getting out. I didn’t know how far your father’s leniency would go.” 

“He might be fast and slick, but he taught me everything I know. And then I learnt to do it better.” 

The Commander dropped his arm and instead grasped his temple. “It was so much easier to do things before all this ‘Commander’ bullshit.” 

The words had Kyle choking on a laugh, clearing his throat in an attempt to hide it. The man in front of him didn’t seem to notice, or didn’t care. Probably didn’t care. That was his usual shtick. Kyle searched for the words to say, but all he could come up with was: “Bit late for that, now. It’s who you are.” 

“I don’t know why. There were – there still are – better people suited.” 

“I remember being in training with you.” 

Commander Tucker finally looked  up, knuckles  pressed to his lips as Kyle  spoke . 

“You were definitely a soldier, even if you wound up the superiors just by breathing. But you were never very good at just following orders. You always questioned them.” 

“Only if they were stupid.” 

“But it’s what makes you a good Commander for us. You do what you need to do, no matter what. Even if that means you question the Councillor’s orders.” 

He was silent for a good few moments, grey eyes boring into him. “I remember you, too.” 

_ That  _ surprised him. “You never said anything.” 

“Well, you never said anything to me, either,” he snapped back. “When you joined the crew, and you said you’d heard of me, I thought you meant…like how other people have heard of me. Not that you remembered.” 

Kyle swallowed a lump in his throat. He felt like he was suffocating under that gaze. 

“I remember you in training. I was so jealous when you left. I felt like some kind of dumb sheep, following along orders, while you broke off to live your own life.” 

“Being a bounty hunter isn’t that glamorous.” 

“No, but no one could tell you what to do. I admired that.” 

He tried to stop the heat rising to his cheeks at the acknowledgment that  _ Commander Craig Tucker  _ admired  _ him  _ of all people. It wasn’t that big of a deal. It shouldn’t have been. Yet it did make his heart race. 

“I’m glad I’ve got you on board, Kyle.” 

“Glad to be on board.” 

There was a moment that passed where Kyle wished there was  more  he could say. He wanted to tell the Commander that there was so much he admired him for in return, that he was so thankful when they let him join the crew after tackling the same bounty. That he was glad that bounty,  Bebe , ended up also joining the crew. 

That he liked the way the Commander said his name, instead of addressing him so formally. 

“Now, shall we go see Mr Cartman, and whatever it is he wants from you?” 

He grimaced. “Do we have to?” 

“Come on, before he  has  my head. Or before he rings your dad and tells him where we ran off to.” 

“Don’t blame me if I punch him.” 

“I won’t stop you. Don’t worry.” 

**Author's Note:**

> This is actually the second attempt for a Mass Effect AU. The first one was MUCH more Mass Effect-y, and followed the 2nd game. I rewrote the scene where Shepard finds Garrus with these two. 
> 
> It's difficult to make a full AU for something as big and expansive as the storyline though, so I wrote this instead.


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